SPANNING eight weeks, eight different studs and thousands of kilometres, Friday’s ram sale at Telpara Suffolks and Hampshire Downs drew the curtain on a successful 2018 season for Quality Wool and Livestock.

Beginning at Mallee Hill Stud near Ceduna on August 10th and wrapping up 63 days later in the Adelaide Hills, consistency was the hallmark of the season with average prices matching and in some cases exceeding those from last year.

And in what was a case of history repeating itself, the opening sale at Mallee Hill set the tone with the record price smashed for the second successive year.

On a day where 92/100 rams on offer were snapped up at an average of $1,121 (almost matching 2017’s average of $1,123), the sale’s top price of $5,000 easily eclipsed the previous record high of $3,200 set last year, leaving stud principal Warren Beattie very happy after what he said had been a “tough season”.

The theme continued when the Quality sale team moved to Kattata Well White Suffolk Stud near Port Kenny, where the results mirrored those of twelve months earlier with an average price of $1,263, virtually identical to last year’s, and 112 of the 120 rams offered being sold.

The Vandeleur family of Rices Creek Poll Merinos in Saddleworth backed up last year’s ‘perfect’ result where 130/130 offerings were cleared, almost repeating the dose by selling 127/130 rams with top price of $8800 to Springvale North Poll Merino Stud, Burra.

The large majority of the offerings were also cleared at Minta Merinos and Poll Merinos (104/110 sold, average $1727, top $6000), Goldvale Dohnes and White Suffolks (31/32 sold) and Kiandra Poll Merinos (57/70 sold, top $5000, average $2084), while Quality auctioneer Simon Seppelt spoke of the “extremely well-prepared and presented” rams on offer at Riverland stud Borung which fetched a top price of $3,900 amid an average of $1,438.

Rounding out Quality’s busy season was last Friday’s sale at Telpara Suffolks and Hampshire Downs in Hartley, which saw 19/21 ewes sold to an average of $455.26, a perfect 10/10 Hampshire Down Rams sold averaging $975.00, and Suffolk Rams averaging $1079.93 from the 37/42 offerings cleared.